Weekend guide to Big 12 baseball

Lanny Hayes

05/02/2008

It's an unusual weekend in the league, as the Top 3 teams all play out of league. The rest of the pack has been mathematically eliminated from title consideration, but postseason implications abound throughout the bottom seven teams – and the Aggies.

Nebraska vs Louisiana-Lafayette – Nebraska is still well in the hunt for a national seed, but their RPI (which already took a hit from mid-week action against Western Illinois ) isn't going to be helped much by playing the Cajuns. Merely a shell of their 2007 squad, ULL has a 114 RPI and a record of 22-23 on the year. Nebraska desperately needs a sweep here, and will probably get it, but may see a slight dip in their RPI anyway. A single loss, depending upon how the numbers shake out, could see Nebraska end up around #20 once the weekend is complete. Aggies should root for the Cajuns, as A&M is competing with Nebraska for a national seed and any slowing of momentum heading into next week's potential title clash is beneficial.

Oklahoma State vs Utah Valley State – OSU, another foe in A&M's quest for a national seed, brings a gaudy RPI into a four-game clash with Utah Valley State . OSU is a 98% lock to sweep the four game set, but just playing UVSU may pay some small dividends for A&M. OSU's RPI, plus their head-to-head wins over A&M, are the real feathers in their hats if it comes down to "Who gets that last national seed, Ags or Pokes?" One half of the RPI formula is derived from your opponent's winning percentage, and at 12-28 (with a 262 RPI) UVSU won't do them any favors. It's tough to know how much of an impact their numbers will have on the final RPI (after all, it's still just 4 out of 54 games – OSU only gets 54 games counted since two came against Non-D1 competition), but can it knock them down closer to A&M's mark enough to muddy the waters on this stat? The proof will be in the pudding. OSU sweeps this one, and celebrate wildly for A&M's national seed chances if OSU loses even one.

Oklahoma at Kansas – At last place in the league, Kansas desperately needs this series to have a shot at reaching the Big 12 tournament. OU has an ugly conference record (6-11-1, just 1.5 games ahead of KU), but still a fair overall NCAA tournament resume. Losing this series may be the end of the end for OU's NCAA hopes, not to mention even qualifying for the Big 12 tourney. A&M swept both clubs, but OU's RPI needs to stay in the Top 50 for A&M's perception, so pull for the Sooners.

Texas vs Baylor (split series, 2 in Austin ) – Both teams with RPIs in the Top 50, both teams in the middle of the conference, both playing for their postseason lives and Aggie fans aren't particularly fond of either one. What's an Aggie fan to do? Pull for Baylor here, oddly enough. A&M already has the sweep of Baylor, and with the Longhorns up in two weeks, it behooves A&M if someone can get them to pack it in for the year. Perhaps more importantly than that, though, is that no one should really want Augie getting his team on a roll late. Longhorns probably take this series, though.

Kansas State at Missouri – In this weekend's second "aww shucks, A&M swept us both" matchup, the only team to pull for is Missouri . Their higher RPI improves A&M's resume (in number of wins vs a Top 50 RPI club, just like OU) and A&M could use Mizzou to catch fire before they play Nebraska in the final week of the season (just in case A&M doesn't win the 2 of 3 they need next weekend).